“Are you having doubts?” The crinkled concern etched in his forehead made me giggle.
“Nope. Not a bit.” The moment I answered his questions the cab stopped. “Oh, look, we’re here.” The resort was stunning from the outside, sporting a Spanish-style hacienda with cream-colored stucco walls and a burnt orange roof.
I felt like little orphan Annie when she saw Daddy Warbuck’s mansion for the first time. My eyes went wide in the lobby taking in the Spanish accents. I stopped in the entrance and absorbed the view while Brett went to check-in.
When I opened the door to the room, I took a deep breath—it was exquisite. The first floor had a walk out directly onto the sandy beach. All I could see through the windows was miles of endless blue from the water to the sky, different shades from light to majestic. I felt like I’d been transported to the castle in Aladdin. The huge four-poster mahogany bed was ornate, but the mounds of fabric draped from the tops of the posts made it appear royal. They jewel tones were warm and inviting, and I’d lost myself in the tranquility of the space.
As the door shut behind us, Brett twisted to face me. He took my waist in his hands and pulled me to him. My gaze ascended to his fantastically green eyes that were more than half a foot above me.
“Is it bad luck to have sex before the wedding on the wedding day?” I asked coyly, tugging at the hem of his shirt.
“I don’t think Emily Post addressed that in her etiquette books, but if you want to tempt fate, I’m game.”
Our lips united in a leisurely tangle as we relished the feel of each other. As each minute ticked by, and we got closer to the wedding, I wanted to be as connected to him as possible—even physically. He explored my body as though he’d never felt it before. Deliberate in his expedition, not an inch of my skin went untouched. My body burned for him, but he refused to allow me to pursue him. This was all about my gratification—demonstrating his intent to care for me for eternity. His actions told me clearly, he’d never intentionally miss anything I needed. Time seemed suspended as he perused my skin, lavishing kisses and trailing his lips down my body from my head to the tips of my toes; he was thorough. His breath on my cheek was warm and humid. I opened my eyes to his, our hips came together in one languid move before he eased himself into me, wrapping my leg around the small of his back.
His movements were sure and steady, each forward motion intent on delivering pleasure to my core. Our hips rocked together, undulating like the waves, bringing me to the very crest before my orgasm crashed through my body, and his rolled in behind.
Neither of us spoke as we laid on the bed. He held me while I rested my head on his chest, drawing lazy circles in the sparse hair that dotted his pecs. He stroked my head amorously as I listened to the methodical rhythm of his heart. Even that beat was alluring, the tick mesmerizing. I daydreamed of what life with him would be like: marriage, the possibility of babies, family—everything. I realized, we had never discussed children, and suddenly, I couldn’t deter my mind from the irrational need to have that discussion immediately—as though my life depended on the answer.
“Hey, Brett….”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Do you want to have kids?” I heard the hesitation in my voice. I couldn’t help but wonder what he must have thought about me asking such a monumental question just hours before we were supposed to walk down the aisle.
He shifted to enable himself to see my face. Tilting my chin up, he looked me in the eyes and raised an eyebrow. “What has you wondering about children?”
“I was just lying here thinking about our future and realized it’s not a topic we’ve discussed. I just wondered what your thoughts are?”
His eyes danced with excitement, and the gold flecks sparkled as he spoke. “I absolutely want children with you. I want as many as you want to have. If that’s one, I’m okay with that, but if it’s four, I’d be happy with that, too. Next to being your husband, there is nothing in life I want more than to be the father of your children.” Stroking my hair, he gave me a soft smile. “What about you? Do you want children?”
He knew about Cole and how I struggled with the decision to keep him, and then how devastating the miscarriage had been, but beyond that, I’d never verbalized my desire to have a large family one day. My confusion with Cole was never rooted in my desire; it was fueled by my situation.
“Definitely. I want a huge family, but I don’t want to be old when we start to have babies. I want to be active with them, spend time with them.”
With a tight squeeze, he rolled me on top of his stomach, so my face was perched mere inches from his. “We can start trying as soon as you’re ready.”
“We might want to get married first. You realize the ceremony starts in a little over an hour?”
He swatted my butt before getting up. “Then I guess we both need to get dressed, don’t we?”
My heart beat with excitement that caused an anxious feeling in my stomach like butterflies. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face or contain what I was feeling. I needed to express with my mouth what my brain was forcing into my heart. Grabbing Brett by the waist, I craned my neck to look him in the eyes. “I love you more than you can imagine, Brett. Thank you for all of this.” Tears ran down my cheeks, but for once in my life, I wasn’t ashamed to let someone see them fall.
“Annie, I would give you the moon if you asked for it.”
Chapter Two
Brett
She’d held out on me for over a year, but the reward was well worth the wait—Annie was insatiable. We had fooled around. She took care of me and kept me interested but always escorted me out the door when things got too heavy while we were dating. Initially, I hadn’t known the specifics, but I knew her issues ran deep. Then add Gray’s shit show to her life, and there was no way she wouldn’t have needed time. The more I got to know her, the more of her life she revealed to me, the more surprised I became when she finally did open up. I knew she was inexperienced in terms of the number of players in her game, but we never discussed the intricacies of how she involved herself in the sport or the depth of her playbook. I got a hint, glimpsed it the night she moaned after I spanked her. Expecting her to jump, or possibly even yell, the cry of pleasure was a shock, and I sure as hell didn’t know a woman could soak her panties with a smack on the ass.
Our honeymoon was a period of exploration for me, primarily a silent one. Annie and I had just begun to share in each other physically, with no restrictions, so we were trying things as they came to mind. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I’d be excited by hitting a woman, but when my hand stung from the contact of my wife’s ass, and I saw that red-hot imprint of my hand glowing on her skin—her near orgasm was erotic in a way I wasn’t aware was possible. That red mark on her tight cheek followed by the heat from the strike was empowering.
I had wanted to consummate our marriage by making love to my wife, but after that, all bets were off. The amount of trust she placed in me was thrilling, allowing me to go in a direction I’d never dreamed of exploring with another human, especially one with her past. I had to remember things that triggered memories for her and coax her through them, replacing her past with her future—safely. My sole mission in life was to trade things that haunted her with others that pleased her. As her husband, her happiness was my goal.
Lying next to me on her side, she trailed her hand down my ribs and traced little patterns on my skin around my pelvic bone. Her face pressed against my chest, and I felt her smile as she watched my dick perk up while she played with my flesh. Her long, delicate fingers ebbed their way around my body as she explored uninhibitedly. I loved the way everything seemed so new, every encounter a fresh start with Annie. She enjoyed the time we spent together as much as the actual act. I’d never been with a woman who brought me down gradually after orgasm, but my wife relaxed me with her touch, the way she dragged her fingers around teasing and outlining my muscles. It wasn’t sexual so much as it was intimate. She conversed with
out words and lulled me into an almost tantric state. Her desire was so much greater than reaching a physical peak, it became spiritual when we were together.
She shifted on the bed, moving into the crook of my shoulder so she could look at me. Her eyes were a honey-brown, almost the color of whiskey but with a bit more yellow—they were intriguing. I could get drunk in the color—they’re so deep. But when she was turned on, they took on a fiery-gold hue. I’d lose myself in her soul staring into those gilded windows.
She had chosen me, married me, to spend eternity with me—I kept waiting to wake up from that dream. I’d had doubts about her commitment early on, not because she’d shown me anything other than loyalty, but because I knew her devotion to Gray. They’d had an unreal connection I’d never seen two people share—the way they communicated was uncanny—almost as though they spoke their own language, silently. You could see it in the way they looked at each other. It could simply have been a glance or a long stare, but either way, neither had to say a word to know what the other was thinking. I saw it when they were together and assumed it would be a tie that never broke. But I never saw her look at him that way again, not once we started to date. My devotion to her never wavered, but I’d thought since that night at Wild Wings, there would always be a piece of her heart she’d surrendered to Gray, that I would never hold.
I knew if she ever told me she loved me, if I ever got to hear those three words from her mouth, she was all in, and I’d never let her go. The day they came, I set my plans in motion to make her mine legally. There was no way in hell I was letting her get away—Gray may have been dumb enough to do it, but I wasn’t.
I had been irate when she told me Gray had called her from the church on his wedding day, but then I realized just how grateful I was to the bastard. His selfish streak was a mile wide and never ceased to amaze me—that day was no different. But what he didn’t know was what he’d done for me. It eliminated any doubt that might have lingered in my mind she was settling for me.
She chose me over Gray, and I couldn’t get a ring fast enough. There was never a doubt in my mind I wanted to marry her, but I needed to know she wanted me. It wasn’t something I could come out and ask her; it had to evolve on its own—for both of us. A piece of her past may forever remain with Gray, but he no longer held any of her heart—their connection was strong, but ours was unbreakable and different than theirs had been. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, my wife knew I would protect her at all costs and be loyal to a fault—she was secure with me; she was my best friend. All the things Gray never bothered trying to be for her, or himself.
Somewhere in my thoughts, her eyes had closed, and I’d lost her to sleep. She was beautiful, completely relaxed—her chest rose and fell in time with my own. With a soft smile on my face, I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to consume me.
“Do you think our friends will be mad?” she asked. Her voice filled with apprehension, and the thought lines in her forehead were pronounced. Annie hated to disappoint people, and I’d been waiting on this to rear its ugly head. I knew it would come and hoped like hell she didn’t regret our decision in the end.
“Annie, I stand firm in the idea that sometimes it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Our friends and family won’t stop loving us because we got married without them.” Smoothing her hair with my hand, I tried to reassure her, to soothe her worry away—but that was easier said than done.
“It may be that way for guys, but I’m afraid Jenny, Lynn, and Scarlett aren’t going to see it the same. Some part of me always thought my wedding would mend things with my parents, too, but I didn’t give them that opportunity. I feel like I chose the selfish route not including them.”
“Do you wish you had done something differently? You know we don’t have to tell anyone we tied the knot. You could go talk to your parents. We could just announce a wedding date and do something back in the states if that’s what you want. No one has to know we got married before the actual ceremony.” I would do whatever Annie wanted to appease her, but not being able to showcase her as my wife when we arrived home tonight would be devastating.
Personally, I didn’t care how my friends, or my family for that matter, felt about my racing off to marry this woman. My guess was my friends would pat me on the back for sealing the deal so no one else could swoop in and steal her away. My mom would cry, but she’d be happy for us so it would be short-lived. And my dad would most definitely thank me for not making him sit through a ceremony in a penguin suit. I realized females were different about this kind of thing, but Annie didn’t want a wedding. She hadn’t been dreaming about that moment since she was little; she just wasn’t that girl. Her need to please others was the sole force driving the insecurity, that and her desire to mend fences with her parents.
“Oh, no, I didn’t mean to imply that I regret what we did. This is exactly how I wanted it. I don’t want a do-over. I guess I’m just nervous about how to break the news, you know?”
I rolled my wife underneath me so I could stare into her eyes. I settled between her legs to make sure I kept my weight off her and propped myself up on my forearm. My other hand cupped her jaw, and my thumb stroked her cheekbone. “Do you want to get everyone together for dinner this week, and we can tell them then? I’ll break the news, so you don’t have to be the bad guy. I’ll tell everyone I whisked you away under the guise of an overdue vacation and surprised you with a wedding.” With my forehead leaned against hers, I forced her to make eye contact. “Sweetheart, this shouldn’t be stressful. Everyone will be thrilled for you, for us.”
She didn’t respond verbally, but physically, she relaxed and traced my spine with her delicate fingertips. The way her touch ignited my desire turned my skin to gooseflesh instantly. The electricity she sent through me with such an innocent touch was mind-blowing. I shivered as the impulses ran down the length of my body and caused Annie to giggle.
“Ticklish?” she asked.
I adjusted my body slightly, so she understood that wasn’t the sensation I was feeling. “Does that feel like it tickled?” I questioned, pressing my erection into her thigh as my heavy eyelids drooped with lust.
Her eyes were ablaze with a playfulness I only saw from her in the bedroom. Wrapping her hands around the back of my neck, she pulled me to her lips, planting a firm kiss, but not open-mouthed. She offered a series of them that became increasingly more intimate with each peck. I pulled away, taking in her beauty, and again wondered how I’d ever gotten lucky enough for this woman to consent to marry me. She was beyond anything I’d ever imagined for myself, and at times, it was overwhelming to think she’d picked me.
Burrowing my face in her neck, I began to slowly make love to my wife, savoring the time we shared before departing from this slice of heaven on earth. I took my time lavishing her body with kisses and adoration. Neither of us was in a hurry. Our bodies seemed to find a rhythm that rolled on endlessly. Our hands stroked the other’s in an unhurried fashion, as though they were learning every line, nook, and detail for the first time—memorizing them. When I couldn’t take it any longer, needing to find my release in her, I murmured in her ear, “Come with me, sweetheart.”
There was no verbal acknowledgment, just a tilt of her pelvis toward mine as my thrusts grew deeper, more powerful. She fisted my hair in one hand and clawed into my back with the other. Her nails nearly broke the skin when she arched toward me and cried out her release as I met her. We laid there in silence until we couldn’t wait to get up any longer—we had a plane to catch.
When the plane touched down in Greenville, Annie and I turned our phones back on for the first time in over a week. We had promised each other we wouldn’t allow any outside distractions to mar our trip, and being out of the country made that easy to explain before we left.
Once on the road, she looked at me. “Do you think it’s safe to check the messages at this point?” Her face was tainted with worry.
“Sweetheart, your friends will not be
mad at you. Plus, they don’t even know anything yet. Are you trying to avoid the confrontation? Is that why you aren’t checking your phone?”
She nodded her reply.
“Who are you most afraid of telling?”
“My mom and dad,” she stated plainly. “Things between us have been strained for years. This may be the final nail in the coffin. The sad thing is you’re exactly what they always wanted for me.”
I’d met her parents when we’d run into them one night, but it was only briefly, and neither had shown much interest. We’d all wanted to go in separate directions to escape the tension. But to Annie’s knowledge, that was the only interaction we’d ever had.
“Okay. Then let’s just go ahead and get that one taken care of. Everything after will be a breeze. Call your parents and see if they’re home.”
“What? Now? You want me to just dial their number and ask if I can bring my husband by for a quick visit?” A mixture of fear and panic filled her voice, and her eyes were wild.
“Yes. Now.”
She did as I asked and to my relief, they answered, although I wasn’t sure Annie felt the same way. Her face dropped when I asked her to see if they minded us stopping by. I took the exit off the interstate toward their house, and the closer we got to our destination the more her features scrunched up in apprehension. She was visibly anxious and obviously terrified of what she was about to get into.
As we walked to their front door, Annie clung to my hand. With a tight squeeze of reassurance, I rang the doorbell. Her parents met us with wide grins on their faces, which Annie returned in a meek exchange. It took everything in me not to laugh at her unease—it was palpable.
Her dad tried to welcome her with a hug, but she was uncomfortable. This wouldn’t fix itself overnight, but it appeared they were all making an effort. “How was the trip?”
Annie hesitated, so I took the lead. “It was incredible. Crystal-blue water, tons of activities, and lots of sunshine.”
Freed (Bound Duet Book 2) Page 4
